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RefusingthePast,OpposingtheFuture…
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ItisimportanttonotethatthesearchforKtheentireman’hadalreadybegun
muchearlier.From1919,thegroupwasundertakingcollectiveexperimentsin
whichalteredstatesofconsciousnesswereprovoked.Teyalsovisitedmediumsand
clairvoyants,inblatantdefianceofthescientificorderoftheday.Teseexperiments
wereattemptstoachievethefusionofactionandreverietheyenvisionedastheulti-
matesurréalité(Ksurreality’).Inthefluxofwordsandpartialphrasesthatemerged
insuchstatestheynoticedsurprisingmeanings,whichtheyinterpretedascoming
fromtheunexploredandpurerpartsofthemind.
Tesewerethefirstexperimentswithautomatism,atechniquetheSurrealistswould
laterprivilegeoverDada’sspontaneousformsofexpression.Amodeintendedtofol-
lowthespeedofthinkingasitemerged,automatismsoughtthereleaseofaprimitive
andemotionalKpoetry,’freefromtherationalconstructsofculture.Tefirstmanifesto,
authoredbyBreton,inparticularmarkedtheirruptionofSurrealismontheavant-garde
scene,aswellaspromptlydistinguishingitssingularnature,whichcombinedasystem-
aticcharacterwithobscurespiritualactivities.Accordingtohim,Surrealismwas
psychicautomatisminitspurestate,bywhichoneproposestoexpress—verbal-
ly,bymeansofthewrittenword,orinanyothermanner—theactualfunctioningof
thought.Dictatedbythethought,intheabsenceofanycontrolexercisedbyreason,
exemptfromanyaestheticormoralconcern.14(Breton1985:36)
TetermKautomatism’referstothismodeofproductiontakingplaceatthebound-
ariesofconsciousnesswhichcanbeexpressedthroughdilerentmeans.Inthese
words—intherejectionofthecontentsdictatedbyconventionalongwiththe
disregardforaestheticsandmorals—onemayseethecontinuationoftheDadaist
project.Whatstronglydistinguishedit,however,wasitsintentiontogobeyond
theboundariesofreason,insearchforanabsoluterealityasanalternativetothe
modernworld.Inaddition,Surrealistsdefinedtheircommonsensibilityasacer-
tainstateoffury.TeSurrealistconcern,atleastduringthefirstyearsofactivity,
waswiththelifeofthespirit,andthecreationofopen,non-conformistwaysof
developingitspossibilities.
Sincethemovement’sintentionwasnotmerelytoquestionreality,buttoques-
tionthewayinwhichitwasrepresented,therefusalofdogmatismintegratedthe
Surrealistcommitmenttoinventionandtotheminimumofintentionallowed
toconsciousness.AccordingtoFer,morethananythingtheirelortwastowork
Kfromthepointofviewoftheunconscious’(1993:176).Tispropositionledtodif-
ferentexperimentsandwasatconstantriskofbeingoccupiedeitherbyincompre-
hensiblenegativityorbyconvention.Tedesiretoshockandconfuseconventional
expectationswasalsopartofthisbroaderstrategy.
14
Automatismepsychiquepurparlequelonseproposed’exprimer,soitverbalement,soitparécrit,
soitdetouteautremanière,lefonctionnementréeldelapensée.Dictéedelapensée,enl’absencedetout
contrôleexercéparlaraison,endehorsdetoutepréoccupationesthétiqueoumorale.
